Pa. House vote on medical marijuana could be soon
HARRISBURG - After years of discussion, Pennsylvania lawmakers appear poised to cast a historic vote next week that could legalize medical marijuana.
HARRISBURG - After years of discussion, Pennsylvania lawmakers appear poised to cast a historic vote next week that could legalize medical marijuana.
As soon as Monday, legislators in the House could vote on a measure, already approved by the Senate and backed by Gov. Wolf, that would allow the drug to be administered to patients suffering from conditions including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and epilepsy.
Still, supporters and detractors alike cautioned that many hurdles remained, including the potential for adding dozens of amendments, many of which were still being crafted Thursday and some of which could alter key portions of the legislation.
Lawmakers on both sides have been hopeful for months that the drug could be legalized for medicinal purposes before year's end.
"There's a sense that it's time to do something on the issue," said Mike Herzing, spokesman for House Democrats.
He and others said the question is how and whether the bill will be altered by the House and whether those changes, which could include caps on the drug's potency levels, will affect its level of support from the Senate.
"What we in the Senate are looking for is whether the bill is designed to get patients medicine," said State Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery), a vocal supporter of medical marijuana, who was wary of amendments. "We just want to make sure there's no artificial limits."
Already legal in 23 other states, including New Jersey, medical marijuana has been touted by supporters as an effective and safe treatment for symptoms of a variety of conditions.
While the Senate overwhelmingly passed a legalization bill this spring, the House established a bipartisan task force to study the issue.
The top-ranking Republican in the House, Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny), has voiced consistent opposition to medical legalization. His wife, a pediatrician, has supported it.
Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana) supports the measure and on Wednesday was one of 10 Republicans who voted to move the bill out of the Rules Committee, along with all 15 Democrats. Eight Republicans voted against it.
Passing the bill through that key committee should lead to a vote in the full chamber by next week, said Reed's spokesman, Stephen Miskin.
While Leach welcomed any movement, he said that some potential provisions being discussed in the House, such as capping the potency of medicinal marijuana or limiting the parts of the plant to be used for certain conditions, could undercut the legislation's effectiveness.
Chris Goldstein, a board member at PhillyNORML, an advocacy group, and marijuana blogger at Philly.com, said diluting the Senate bill would be an unwelcome development for most supporters of medicinal marijuana.
"Basically, whatever they do, they're going to further restrict the bill, and that's not a good idea," he said.
Disagreement between the House and Senate would force continued negotiations, thus delaying sending a bill to Wolf, a Democrat.
Goldstein said the losers would be patients who are suffering as the debate lingered. With so many questions unanswered, he said, it was not clear when those in need of the drug might be able to receive it in Pennsylvania.
"It's not helping any patients any time soon," he said.
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